Some rumors in the auto industry simply refuse to die. Over the last decade, a few of the strongest have focused on Japan. A few years ago, we could have explained away the constant whispering over a new Toyota Supra, Acura NSX or Mazda RX-7 as nostalgia for Japan’s golden era of performance. Today, though is different.

We already have the Nissan GT-R, and, thanks to the Toyota FT-1 Concept, a Supra successor finally appears to be on the way. Acura will someday, allegedly, deliver on its promise to put the NSX on sale. So where does that leave the third member of the Japanese performance trio mentioned above? Well, um, it still isn’t happening.

Kogai’s planning, according to AN, sees Mazda focusing more on its increasingly strong, efficient mainstream lineup, rather than its iconic sports cars, owing to its limited spending money.

“It’s difficult for us at present to further expand our lineup,” Kogai told Automotive News. “The company is still in the process of improving its financial structure. We want to focus our limited resources on the Skyactiv products that we have today.”

While enthusiasts may lament this move, analysts in Japan seem quite pleased with it. “A brand this size needs only so many poster cars,” Kurt Sanger, an analyst with Deutsche Securities Japan, told AN.

Do you agree? Should the growing proliferation of performance vehicles, particularly Japanese brands, push Mazda back towards a rotary sports car? Have your say in Comments.

Mazda has officially kicked off production of the next-generation Mazda2 at the company’s new factory in Salamanca, Mexico. Alongside the auto assembly plant, operations have also commenced at the facility’s engine machining factory.

“With the start of production of the all-new Mazda2, operations underway at the engine machining plant, and an increase in our annual production capacity, we now have an even stronger production framework capable of supplying global markets with Skyactiv products of the same high quality level as those made in Japan,” Mazda de Mexico Vehicle Operation’s President Keishi Egawa said in a statement. “At the same time, we are pleased to be able to make a contribution to Mexico’s further economic growth.”

MMVO joins Mazda’s Hofu Plant in Japan and the Auto Alliance factory in Thailand, which commenced Mazda2 production in July and September, respectively.

Ask a car enthusiast what the best driver’s car on the road is, and the Mazda MX-5 Miata is very likely to come up rather quickly. Unjustly saddled with a reputation as a “chick’s car,” the Miata has been, over its three generations, one of the finest driving instruments ever built – it’s light, agile and rear-wheel drive with direct, snappy steering, an engine that revels in being revved and a precise, smooth-shifting transmission. The fact that it’s ridiculously affordable and reliable is simply a bonus.

It should come as no surprise then, that a car with these traits has endured for 25 years, a milestone reached only by some of the most famous nameplates in the auto industry – Corvette, Mustang, F-150, SL, M3 and so on. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Jay Leno spent some time with the little roadster that could, while also chatting with two of the Mazda employees that were central to the MX-5’s arrival on the world’s automotive scene, Bob Hall and Tom Matano.